Former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu, expressed his concern over the decreasing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country, which he says has hit a nine-year low.
In a statement made via his verified Twitter handle on Thursday, April 06, 2023, Moghalu disclosed that he would feel hesitant to invest in Nigeria if he were a foreign investor.
Moghalu noted that the country possesses a lot of potential but had suffered from economic mismanagement.
He stated, “It is not surprising that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Nigeria is down to the lowest levels in 9 years. If I was a foreign investor I would be very scared to invest in a country with so much potential but which has been so mismanaged economically.”
Foreign investments in Nigeria decreased by 20.47% ($1.37bn) in 2022, with Kano, Rivers, Ogun and 24 other states being avoided by foreign investors, while Lagos remained the preferred destination for investment, attracting 67.82% ($3.61bn) of the total investments in the country.
Other states that attracted foreign direct capital in 2022 include the Federal Capital Territory ($1.63bn), Akwa-Ibom ($42.52m), Anambra ($36.97m), Ekiti ($0.51m), Ondo ($0.20m), Oyo ($3m), Plateau ($0.04m), Katsina ($0.70m), and Kogi ($2m), according to the National Bureau of Statistics ‘Nigeria’s Capital Importation’ reports for the first, second, third, and fourth quarters of 2022.
